Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att-cb!ihnp4!ihlpm!njd
From: njd@ihlpm.ATT.COM (DiMasi)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.8bit
Subject: Re: Linking two computers
Message-ID: <1719@ihlpm.ATT.COM>
Date: 22 Feb 88 19:40:37 GMT
References: <8802191655.AA26182@mitre-bedford.ARPA>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories - Naperville, Illinois
Lines: 65

> 
> .....
> of how much hardware design is involved.  Tackling the project would
> undoubtedly teach you a lot about computers, but don't underestimate the
> effort involved.
> 
> And, finally, a comment that I wish I could go back and tell myself when I
> was your age:  Don't think you will have more time to do this project at
> any future time in your life.  You almost certainly WILL NOT.  You will just
> get busier and busier, at least until you retire at age 65.  The best thing
> you could possibly do with your life is to BELIEVE THESE WORDS, think about
> their implications, and then figure out how to take this awful news into
> account in planning how to live your life right now.  More likely, you will
> think I am being silly and will only realize the truth of what I have said
> when you are about 40 or 50.  Good luck, either way.
> 

I know what you mean about just getting busier and busier!  And  I  am
only 32!  I can think of many projects that I would LOVE to do with my
Atari(s) (800XL and 130XEO [O for Omniview]), but I  JUST  DON'T  HAVE
TIME ANYMORE!  There are too many other things that I also like to do,
and that are equally important to me; not the least of  which  include
social  activities, and keeping up with maintenance, repairs, and even
"enhancements" of/to my house.  (A house can consume time like nothing
else,  except  maybe  children;  the  latter  my wife and I had little
interest in before, and NO TIME now!)

Someone mentioned wanting to use the 8-bit Ataris to  control  various
"household" devices.  I have never tried this, but if I were going to,
I would study the columns,  articles,  etc.  in  ANALOG,  ANTIC,  etc.
magazines.   In particular, I like to read the "Nuts and Bolts" column
in ANALOG and dream.  In fact, before I found  a  used  Koala  pad  (I
REALLY  WANTED  one  BADLY!),  I  was  considering  building  a gadget
described in that column (issue #/month  escapes  me  just  now)  that
emulates  the  Koala Pad (but may need an extra button to do this with
MicroIllustrator).  The device was named the "Rodent" and  used  a  R-
Shack  type  joystick  pot  (a  joystick  "innards"  with  2  variable
resistors at right angles, for you "software only" types. :-) I should
talk... I fried a 130XE! ouch!).  I want to try to write my own flight
simulator someday, just for gliders  (sailplanes),  and  a  relatively
simple  one (little if any recognizable scenery, no fancy instruments,
etc.).  The "Rodent" would be a great stick for such a  "bird."   Now,
what to use for rudder pedals? ...

Remember, a mouse is just an upside-down trackball with a  tiny  ball,
where  the  mouse  pad  (table)  is your hand... (essentially).  Input
devices are fun to play with (even if only in your head).

As time goes by, I find myself USING my Atari(s) more, but having less
and less time  to "hack" (program for fun and learning how the Atari's
innards work; I have never even tried P/M graphics yet -  and  I  have
ACTION! and the Prog.  Aid [old version of Toolkit] disk, so I have no
excuse like "I don't want to bother to learn 6502 assembler...[which I
don't, at least for the time being!]).

So, I sincerely wish any and all "hobbyist hackers" the best of  luck,
fun,  and  so  on  with  their  Ataris.   (And  if this article is too
verbose/long  for  anyone,  please  accept  my    humble    apologies.
Sometimes  it  seems  to  me that I  was born with a hard-coded dash-v
option!)

Nick DiMasi
Uni'q Digital Technologies (Fox Valley Software subsidiary;
   ^          working as a contractor at AT&T Bell Labs in Naperville, IL)
(  | this is an accent mark, supposed to replace the dot over the 'i')